Associations

‘Need’ – Joelle Charbonneau

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WANT AND A NEED. WHAT DO YOU NEED?One by one, the teens in Nottawa, Wisconsin join the newest, hottest networking site and answer one question: What do you need? A new iPhone? Backstage tickets to a concert? In exchange for a seemingly minor task, the NEED site will fulfill your request. Everyone is doing it. So why shouldn’t you?

Kaylee Dunham knows what she needs –a kidney for her sick brother. She doesn’t believe a social networking site can help, but it couldn’t hurt to try.

Or could it?

After making her request, Kaylee starts to realize the price that will have to be paid for her need to be met. The demands the site makes on users in exchange for their desires are escalating and so is the body count. Will Kaylee be able to unravel the mystery of who created the NEED network—and pull the plug before it destroys them all?

As soon as I read this description I really wanted to read this book. I was lucky enough to receive a digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, prior to publication in November.

The first thing I will say is that this is a great concept – and it doesn’t surprise me that the novel is already being optioned for a movie. Initially, the demands placed on the students are fairly trivial, but things quickly take a far more sinister turn. The consequences of what people are being asked to do are far-reaching, but if nobody knows who’s done it, does it matter?

This certainly encourages readers to question their own sense of morals. Unfortunately, I felt the ending of the book became less secure and with so many characters involved in telling us their stories I became less interested as it went on. This is a shame as I really wanted to love this novel.